


Something In Common

by PaleNoFace



Series: The Fine Art Of Communication [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: How Do I Tag, Hunk Is Having None Of This Shit, Jealousy, Klance - Relationship - Freeform, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Male Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Miscommunication, Obvious Lack Of Communication Skills, Please Kill Me, Self-Esteem Issues, Shiro is Tired™, These Guys Don't KNOW How To Talk To Each Other, Touch-Starved Keith (Voltron), What Was I Thinking?, guys seriously just talk this out, you're being ridiculous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-02-08 09:46:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12861933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaleNoFace/pseuds/PaleNoFace
Summary: It's basically Voltron but Lance and Keith already know each other. Pretty well.





	1. The Rise Of Voltron : An Unlikely Team (...ish)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to rewrite some of the episodes, so. Yeah. I've like five other fics to update but noooope, my brain just decided to do this so here we go !

There were five things Lance didn't like in life : endives, be caught while doing something (almost) illegal, be yelled at by Iverson, slow progress in his researches and fight with Keith. Unfortunately, he had four out of five things on the same day, which was in consequence considered a bad one. But since the day was already fucked, Lance chose to tempt fate and go for the illegal path too by sneaking out of the Garrison after curfew. Of course, he found a way to get Hunk with him, because it was what best friends always did. Or at least what Hunk always did, despite his tendency to freak out.

"Lights out in five ! Everyone back to their dorms, now," Iverson yelled across the halls.

"We shouldn't be doing this," Hunk muttered, clearly not at ease.

"You heard Commander Iverson," Lance replied, "We need to bond as a team. We're going to grab Pidge, hit the town, loosen up, meet some nice girls, maybe—"

"Okay ! I'm just... I'm just saying this here, right now, on the record : this is a bad idea."

Lance didn't reply. Hunk was right after all, but Lance was stubborn. And annoyed to have such a bad day. He needed to relax and he wasn't the kind of guy to throw away a perfect opportunity to have fun. After a while, he looked over his shoulder to make sure his best friend was still behind him. And of course he was, just very spooked. He smiled and said :

"You know, for someone in a space exploration program, you don't have much of a sense of adventure."

"All of your little 'adventures' end up with me in the principal's office."

Lance didn't react. A few moments later, after they hid in trashcans to avoid a guard passing by, they almost rid into Pidge, leaving Iverson's office. They shared a look, eyebrows raised.

"Where is _he_ going ?" Lance asked, getting no answer.

They followed him on the roof of the Garrison, where they found him listening to radio chatter through headphones and some special equipment. As Hunk crawled on the roof, Lance tiptoed to Pidge and carefully removed his headphones.

"You come up here to rock out ?"

Pidge yelled, swaying his arms before he could reconize his team mates. He sighed, catching back his headphones.

"Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, hum... Just looking at stars."

"Hey, where'd you get this stuff ? It doesn't look like Garrison tech," Lance said, looking at the small tech device.

"I built it," the smaller one replied, looking very proud of himself.

"You built all this ?" Hunk asked, trying to poke at it, before being smacked by Pidge's hand.

"Stop it ! With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system."

Lance shivered. Did that mean...

"That right ? All the way to Kerberos ?" he asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Keith would have jumped if he were here, Lance thought, a ghost of a smile on his face, but then remembered that they fought earlier that day and the warmth in his stomach got turned off by a bit of guilt and anger. Pidge didn't respond. That was weird, a second before he was all happy to present his stuff to his friends, but the second someone mentionned Kerberos he turned taciturn.

"You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up. What's your deal ?"

Pidge opened his mouth but instead of an answer he turned to Hunk, who was poking at the stuff again.

"Second warning, Hunk !"

Hunk awed and turned away from the computer, and Lance went back to whatever he was saying.

"Look, Pidge, if we're going to bond as a team, we can't have any secrets."

The smaller guy huffed in annoyance.

"Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake—STOP TOUCHING MY EQUIPMENT !!! ...So I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter."

Lance felt suddently cold. So there was something out there.

"Whoa, what ? Aliens ?!" Hunk yelped, eyes widening.

"OK, so you're insane. Got it." Of course Pidge wasn't, but Lance couldn't just pretend to believe him like that. Not without having to talk about a certain former student of the Garrison, living in desert, with whom he was researching infos about the Kerberos mission for almost a year. He trusted his friends, but there were things he couldn't share. Not yet. It was a little bit hypocritical after his "we can't have any secrets" speech to Pidge, but what happened in Keith's shack stayed in Keith's shack.

"I'm serious ! They keep repeating one word, "Voltron", and tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it."

Uh. That one was new.

"How crazy ?" Lance asked, and once again Pidge opened his mouth but got shut down by the building's alarm, suddently blaring at them. Iverson's voice could be heard over the intercom.

"Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown ! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat : All students are to remain in barracks until further notice."

Hunk looked up at the sky and visibly blemished.

"What's going on ? Is that a meteor ?! ... A very, very big... meteor ?"

Pidge grabbed his binoculars, laying conveniently around.

"It's a ship !"

Lance took the binoculars from them and looked himself at the UFO and exclaimed :

"Holy cow ! I can't believe what I'm seeing ! That's not one of ours !"

"No," Pidge muttered, still hanging on the binoculars. "It's one of theirs."

"So wait, there really are aliens out there ?!" Hunk intervened, his head still tilted towards the ship.

Said ship crashed in the desert nearby and Pidge jumped on his feet, collecting his stuff.

"We've gotta see that ship !" he decided.

"Hunk, come on !" Lance shouted, already rushing the stairs.

"Oh, this is the worst team-building exercise ever," whimpered the latter, following them anyway.

A few instants later, the three of them were hidden behind a big rock, passing Pidge's binoculars to each other. 

"Whoa... What the heck is that thing ?!" Lance exclaimed, before focusing on a particularly good looking Garrison officer. "... And who the heck is _she_ ?"

"Lance !" grunted his tiny friend, hitting him.

"Ow ! Ah, right, alien ship. Man, we'll never get past all those guards to get a look."

The idea seemed to please Hunk a lot.

"Aw, man. Yeah, we.. Yeah, I guess there's nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right ?"

Pidge stopped tipping on his computer to shoot a deadpan look at him, then went back to work.

"Wait. They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look !"

The screen showed Iverson talking to a man, strapped to a table as Garrison technicians were examinating him. Lance's heart skipped a beat and he grabbed the screen in an uncontrolled reflex.

"That's Shiro ! The pilot of the Kerberos Mission. That guy's my hero !"

He caught his tongue before he could add "and my boyfriend's adoptive brother" but the idea was there. He jumped back, searching for his phone. Keith needed to know, even if Lance realized that he probably didn't miss the crash. He quickly texted him, just sending " _a ship crashed, it's shiro_ " before getting back to the other two. Fortunately, they were both too occupied with the ship to mind him.

"Guess he's not dead in space after all," Hunk commented, watching the scene through the binoculars.

"Where's the rest of the crew?" Pidge asked, and Lance caught a glimpse of distress in his voice. Again, weird. Shiro mumbled something on screen and Pidge suddently shrieked, "Voltron !!" and after another silence, they repeated, "They didn't ask about the rest of the crew."

Lance felt stress slowly rising in his guts. Something felt so wrong.

"What are they doing ? The guy's a legend. They're not even gonna listen to him ?" he grunted, back on what was happening on screen.

"We have to get him out," Pidge agreed.

Hunk raised his hand to intervene :

"Ah, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren't we just watching on TV because there was no way to get past the guards ?"

"That was before we were properly motivated. We've just got to think. Could we tunnel in ?" Lance proposed.

"Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs," Pidge said.

"Or we dress up like cooks, sneak into the commissary... little late-night snack," Hunk tried again, not knowing how to convince them to get back inside of the dorms.

"... No. What we need is a distraction."

Miraculously, as soon as Lance talked, explosions burst in the distance, making all of them scream.

"Is that the aliens ?!" Hunk yelled. "Are-Tha-The-Is that the aliens ?! Are they here ?! They got here so quick !"

"No. Those explosions were a distraction, for _him_ !" Pidge pointed at a overcraft flying in the distance. "The Garrison's headed towards the blast, and he's sneaking in from the other side !"

Lance grabbed the binoculars again, looking at the newcomer riding a hovercraft. His mouth went agape, and he let out a soft "No way", before yelling with anger "No way ! If he gets hurt I'm killing him !"

"Who is it ?" Hunk yelled to be heard over the explosion.

"Keith !" he yelled back, but he wasn't sure if he was talking to Hunk or trying to get Keith's attention. 

The latter was too far away anyway, so he turned back to face his best friend.

"Are you sure ?"

"Who ?" Pidge asked.

"Oh, I'd recognize that mullet anywhere !" Lance grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Who's Keith ?!" Pidge wanted to know, shaking him by the arm.

Lance didn't respond and rushed toward the quarantined crash site, his friends on his heels. Sounds of a fight came from the inside and they intercepted Keith at the exact moment where he lifted a passed out Shiro over his shoulder.

"Nope. No you—No, no, no, no, no, no, no you don't. I'm saving Shiro too."

Keith blinked but shut his mouth, glaring at him, so Lance let his anger flow back up to the surface :

"We agreed on saving him _together_. What part of it you didn't catch, Mullet ?"  
"There is no way that I wasn't going to intervene !"  
"You know what ? I regret texting you," Lance snapped, taking Shiro's other arm and lifting too.

Keith was about to reply when Hunk, who was keeping watch near the entrance, jolted back in the room.

"Oh, man, they're coming back and they do not look happy. We gotta go. Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you ?" he said at Keith, who still had a reply for Lance across the throat.

He nodded and moved back to the hovercraft. They all climbed on it and it tipped over.

"We sure have more room when it's just the two of us," Keith grumbled, low enough to only be heard by Lance, who snorted.

"Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" Pidge wondered, and when Keith replied a convinced " _No_ ", he blemished. "Why am I holding this guy?" He added, as the hovercraft took off.

"Hey, we did all fit !" Hunk giggled, relieved that they were flying away, less relieved when he noticed that the Garrison staff was behind them.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Lance added, knowing perfectly that _in theory_ it could, but they were three times more numerous than usual.

"We could toss out some non-essential weight," Keith glared at him, like he was considering the possibility of throwing him overboard. Lance's face turned white. Trying to swallow his fear, because he knew for fact that Keith would throw him overboard if he was pissed enough, and replied with as much sourness he could manage :

"Oh, right ! ... Okay, so that was an insult. I get it."

Keith just ignored him and looked at Hunk from over his shoulder, Lance's shoulder and Pidge's head.

"Big man, lean left !"

Hunk complied, helping the hovercraft to turn, and a few rovers behind them crashed in the turn. 

"Aw man ! Mr. Harris just chiked out Professor Montgomery ! ... No, no he's fine," Hunk commented, looking behind them again.

"Big man, lean right !"

The young ingeneer did as told and their vehicle started to jump from cliff to cliff, until the biggest one was spotted in front of them.

"Guys ? Is th-th-th-tha-tha- Is that a cliff up ahead ?"

"Ooooh no, no, no ! No, no, no, no—!" Lance yelped, because they tried to do that jump one day and they couldn't do it, at full speed and whith less people onboard.

"Yup," Keith simply said, and they ducked forward.

"What are you doing ?! You're going to kill us all !" Lance yelled, clinging on the pilot's shirt by reflex.

"Shut up and trust me for once !" His tone was sharper than he meant, but hey, he was pissed off, okay ?

Fortunately, the hovercraft landed properly at the bottom of the cliff and flew into the desert, everyone sound and safe. Except maybe for Hunk's guts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments, it helps me to stay determinated ! o/


	2. The Rise Of Voltron : Lions And Aliens (kinda)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Voltron, and more subplot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear lord how long will this be ? Oh well, let's see.

"It's good to have you back."

Keith joined Shiro in front of the house. He looked even more tired, in the sun of early mornight, but at least he looked alive. That was more than Keith could ever ask for.

"Heh. It's good to be back."  
"So. What happened out there ? Where... were you ?"

"I wish I could tell you," Shiro sighed. "My head's still pretty scrambled. I was on an... Alien ship but... Somehow I escaped. It's all a blur. How did you know to come save me when I crashed ?"

Keith avoided the question with a grunt and pulled on his arm - the real one.

"You should come see this."

They went back into the shack. Hunk and Pidge were fidgetting with some of the tiny boy's tech and Lance was sitting on his usual spot, on the arm of the couch, looking outside with his chin in his hand. They all stood up when Shiro made an entrance and followed him to the corkboard covering half of the opposite wall. The looked at it in silence, until Shiro frowned and asked :

" _What_ have you been working on ?"

"I can't explain it, really," Keith shrugged. "After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kinda... lost and... felt myself drawn out to this place. It's like something... some energy, was telling me to search."

"For what ?" Shiro asked again.

"Well, we- I didn't really know at the time... Until I stumbled across this area. It's an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings," he added, poking at a picture of said markings. "Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then you showed up."

Lance wasn't angry at him for not mentionning their "collaboration", but somehow he felt disappointed. He knew from the start that was Keith's work, and Keith's big project : finding Shiro. Lance knew he only added logistic and human support when it was needed, and _oh boy was he needed sometimes_ , but... It felt wrong. He was part of it all. He was the one who discovered the existence of the caves through a very old map. He was the one who asked help from Pidge to calculate the "event" under cover of a physics homework. They worked _together_ to find what happened to Shiro, because they both had a lot of esteem for the man, but now that the legendary pilot was back... Lance was jealous. He couldn't help it : now that Shiro was back, Keith only glared at his partner to make him shut up. It was infuriating. _They had history, dammit !_ While Lance was quietly fulminating, the rest of the group started to talk about the whole "event" thing. He resumed the thread of the conversation where Pidge and Hunk were fighting about some random diary.

"... And I noticed that the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a fraunhofer line."

"Frown... who?" Keith made a face that looked a lot like a confused kitten, and Lance had to bite his tongue to focus on the main topic, _and absolutely not on his stupidly adorable boyfriend_.

"It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element. Only this element doesn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron, and I think I can build a machine to look for it, kinda like a Voltron Geiger Counter."

Lance started to smile because _damn_ wasn't his best friend intelligent.

"Hunk, you big, gassy genius !" he said, bumping gently their shoulders together.

Keith looked away. Lance didn't care, or at least didn't want to.

"It's pretty fascinating, really. The wavelength looks like this," Hunk pulled out a graph that Keith grabbed and raised at eye level.

The graphic was matching with the boulder's apparence on the picture pined on the board.

 

They arrived at the location, Hunk armed with his new toy/detector, the rest of the squad behind him. Lance was avoiding Keith and Shiro, who where walking at the back of the group. He didn't care. He really didn't care. _Urgh, why did he care so much ?!_

"... Okay. I admit it. This is super freaky," Lance commented, back on what was actually happening. 

And it was. Why an alien communication that Pidge registered from all the way down Kerberos, would correspond to a random set of spectral lines and look exactly like the nearest mountain ?

"I'm getting a reading," Hunk announced, leading them to a cave Keith explored alone, because that one time Lance was busy photograph the marks on the rock which, in fact, were all over the place.

Shiro touched one with his real arm, and then turned back to Keith.

"What are these ?"

"These are the lion carvings I was telling you about. They're everywhere around here."

Maybe because he saw them so many times, maybe because he worked so much on their meaning, there was something familiar and reassuring in these drawings. For the first time since his hands weren't occupied by the camera, he touched them. All the carvings started to glow at the same time, surprising everyone.

"Whoa... Whoa !" was all Lance could manage to say.

"Heh, they've never done that before," Keith told him, a hint of wonder and worry in his voice.

Lance shook his head. That was new. The ground suddently broke, dropping them into a large watery cave. Fortunately they didn't break anything, except their egos and their bruised butts. When Lance looked up, he could see in the middle of it all a gigantic blue lion, surrounded by a glowing globe.

"Is this it ? Is this the Voltron ?" Pidge asked aloud, skeptical.

"It... must be," Shiro, too, seemed unconvinced.

"This is what's been causing all this crazy energy out here," Keith told Lance, who nodded thoughfully. "Looks like there's a forcefield around it."

They both approached said forcefield, followed by the rest of the group.

"Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?" Lance nervously chuckled, but gaining no response. "Yeah. The eyes are totally following me."

"I wonder how we get through this," Keith mumbled again, touching the surface.

"Maybe you just have to knock." It was a joke, really, but Lance half-expected it to open anyway, so he wasn't too spooked when the forcefield actually disappeared. "Uh, did everyone just see that?"

By the amazed " _Woaaah_ " he heard, yes, they did.

"Voltron is a robot ! Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot !" Hunk realized, probably thinking of one of the drawings back up.

Lance's eyes got wide and Keith facepalmed. That was it ! They were both so dumb...

"And this thing is only one part of it !" Pidge added, reflecting at his own speed. "I wonder where the rest of them are."

Shiro didn't seem to hear them, but said :

"This is what they're looking for."

Keith replied something, but Lance couldn't hear it over the shiver that went up along his spine. He couldn't help but climb in its mouth, terrifying Hunk and Pidge on the way. Inside, he discovered a cockpit with a pilot seat and a full black screen in front. He cautiously sat in it, but it jolted forward, almost into the controls. Lance screamed, certain that he would end his life smashed in an alien ship, but the commands softly glowed, as they were waiting for him to try them.

"Heheh ! All right ! Very nice !" he chuckled, ajusting his hands.

The rest of the team quickly joined him inside - well, Keith almost rushed to him, at what Lance was totally insensible, totally - followed by Pidge who was eyeing everything at the same time, Shiro who seemed understandably tense and Hunk, who was a nervous wreck.

"Okay guys, I-I feel the need to point out, just so that we're all, y'know, aware," the big guy said, even if no one was actually paying attention to him, "We're in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now."  
"Whoa, did you guys just hear that ?" Lance interrupted suddently.  
"Hear what ?" Keith asked.  
"I-I think it's talking to me. Hmm... Um..." he mumbled, trying to make sense out of what was happening.

He pressed a few buttons, with only reaction the lion standing up and roaring loudly. Hunk and Pidge screamed, again, but Lance was already smashing the ship through the wall of the cave and took off flying, doing somersaults and wild turns in the air, terrifying the team. Hunk and Pidge screamed, _again_. Keith, that rolled out of sight for a second, made his way back to the pilot seat and yelled in Lance's ear, so he could be heard over the high-pitched screams :

"YOU ARE. THE WORST. PILOT. EVER."

Lance stuck out his tongue at him and pushed the commands, making a few barrel rolls. He laughed, looking above his shoulder to the rest of the group.

"Isn't this awesome ?!"  
"Make it stop !" Hunk stammered, turning slowly but surely green. "Make it stop !"  
"I'm not making it do anything, it's like it's on autopilot !" Lance shrugged, but his stomach was unsettled.

The lion suddently lifted its nose and took off into the sky.

"Where are you going ?!" Keith shrieked.  
"I just said it's on autopilot !" he said, hands on the seat. "It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it !"  
"What did it say, exactly ?!" Pidge asked from far away, having probably rolled in the back of the cockpit like Keith earlier.  
"Well, it's not like it's saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain," Lance tried to explain, but he wasn't even convincing himself. "Uh, kind of."  
"Well, if this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just, like—I don't know, give it to them ?" Hunk intervened at some point, as the lion was still flying upward. "Maybe they'll leave us alone. Sorry, Lion, nothing personal."  
"No, you don't understand," Shiro said, opening his mouth for the first time since they got in. "These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead."  
"...Oh," Hunk blankly replied. "Nevermind then."

And suddently they were into space, a _big big big_ warship opening fire on them.

"We've got to get it out of here !" Pidge squealed, back on the front of the cockpit.  
"Hang on !" Lance ordered, hoping they understood that he meant literally.

The lion dodged a few shots, and then blasting a laser beam to the ship. Lance was struggling with commands, but somehow he knew what to do to save them. The lion's claws teared into the ship like it was made of paper, wrecking it fast. It was time to get these guys away from their planet, and so he flew away. As expected, the warship followed them, to everyone else's greatest displeasure. Oddly enough, they realized that the ship was chasing them, with no intend of taking them down.

"Where are we ?" Keith asked at some point, his eyes still fixing the screen with their pursuer on it.

Shiro was the fastest to react and pointed at a floating piece of ice, not very far away from them.

"Edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos."  
"It takes months for our ships to get out this far ! We got out here in five seconds !" Pidge yelped.

A wormhole appeared in front of them, out of nowhere. There was a second of complete silence, before everyone started talking at the same time.

"What is that?!"  
"Uh, this may seem crazy, but I think the Lion wants us to go through there."  
"Where does it go?"  
"I-I don't know !" Lance panicked, his gaze shoting to his right. "Shiro, you're the senior officer here ! what should we do ?!"  
"Whatever's happening, the Lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together."

Another silence, during which they looked at each other. Lance sighed.

"... All right. Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow."

The lion entered the wormhole, disappearing before the warship could follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos, it helps me stay determined ! o/


	3. The Rise Of Voltron : The Sleeping Castle (eeeeh ?)

The team groaned from the turbulance, but at least they were okay. Okay and... on the other side, wherever that was supposed to be.

"Woah... That was..." Lance shook his head, trying to clear the fog in his mind, but got cut by Hunk who bent forwards to unload his stomach's content on the ground of the small cabin.

"So sorry," the engineer blurted, before leaning against a wall to throw up again.  
"I'm just surprised it took this long," Pidge vinced as he carefully walked away.

Shiro, completely indifferent to the gastric crisis behind him, was still looking at the screens and more specifically at the one displaying the sky.

"I don't recognize any of these constellations. We must be a long, long way from Earth."  
"The Lion seems to want to go to this planet. I think... I think it's going home," Lance responded as he pointed at a planet that was coming closer - or better, to which they were coming closer.

As soon as he speaked, the lion blasted toward the planet and with a collective scream they all grabbed the nearest stable thing, a.k.a Lance.

"Guys, personal space !" he yelped, trying to squirm away. "Hunk, your breath is killing me !"  
"Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole ? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway ?" the latter replied, avoiding easily his best friend's glare.  
"It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it ?" he replied.  
"I don't know if you noticed, but we're in an alien warship," Keith muttered, rolling his eyes.  
"Oh, are you scared ?" Lance grinned, earning a deadly glare.  
"With you at the helm ? Terrified."

Outch. Okay, that was unrequiered for. Just as he was opening his mouth to reply something that would even make Iverson blush, Shiro intervened and stepped up between the two of them.

"All right, knock it off ! No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it together."

"So, what do we do ?" Pidge asked in the distance, ignoring Keith and Lance that were still glaring at each other in frustrated silence.  
"First, we find out where we're headed. Lance ?" Shiro asked.  
"I don't know. I'm sorry," the pilot huffed softly. "The Lion's not talking to me anymore. ...Wait ! Wait, wait, wait ! There's a castle up ahead !" he said with an incredulous smile, gathering the rest of the team in the front of the room.

They witnessed the Lion landing in what should have been the courtyard of a white castle, faintly glowing in light blue.

"Keep your guard up," the older officer reminded them. "My crew was captured by aliens once, I'm not going to let it happen again."

Pidge shuddered and hugged himself. Lance looked at Keith with the corner of his eye : the young Kogane lifted a hand to Shiro's shoulder, but for some reason took it back. He then met Hunk's eyes and they winced, aware of the tension around them. They eventually walked out, taking a second to help Shiro who was slower for obvious reasons, when the lion suddently stood up, startling everyone.

"Oh no ! Oh no ! I knew it was going to eat us ! No !" Hunk screamed as the mechanical beast stepped forward and roared, somehow opening the castle's door. "Oh, the door is open. Guess I was wrong about you," he chuckled with a gulp, earning a reassuring pat on the back from Shiro.

"From the size of the Lion, I expected these steps to be bigger," Pidge chirped.

They took a step inside, greeted by a beam of light as the vestibule seemed to activate.

"Hold for identity scan," a disembodied voice ordered as a light beam passed on them, ignoring their exclamations of surprise and other questions before disappearing completely, leaving a path of lights on down a corridor.

As they explored the castle more deeply, Lance couldn't help but feel a little crept out by how dead it looked. Clearly, this place was meant to be lived in, not abandonned like this. As if he felt his tension, Keith walked closer and brushed his fingers on the back of Lance's hand.

"You okay ?" he asked, his eyes full of innocent worries.

Lance could have melt right on the spot, but he was still pissed, so instead of taking the truce that was offered to him he crossed his arms on his chest with a scowl.

"And since when do you care ?" he hissed, walking faster to get to Pidge's level without expecting an actual response.

He could almost feel the look of disappointment that was burning his shoulders, but he told himself that he was in his good right of being angry. Pidge glanced up at him and coughed, drawing his friend's attention away from a pouting Keith.

"So... What's up between you and that guy ?"

Lance shrugged. Pidge would have to settle for this answer, because to be honest... Lance himself didn't know what was up between them. He was mad at Keith. And Keith was mad at him, too, even though he had no idea why. When he stormed off of the shack, the morning before, he hadn't taken the time to hear any explanation. He liked Keith, very much : but Lance was fragile and uncertain in his relationships, he needed to be reassured and told that he was wanted, not just tolerated like his brain liked him to think. The mere idea of his boyfriend leaving him as soon as Shiro was back, the fact that he was maybe used from the start to make quicker progress in the research of the living legend... It hurt. It burned him deep and slow, eating him from the inside. And the worst part of it was that he knew that if he only listened, he would probably feel better. Make up for any bad word they had for each other and that they never really meant. Maybe he could prove he was worth it. He would have like that, but Keith and him weren't known to be good at conflit de-escalation. Plus, he was terrified. What if it was true ? What if, once they went through the whole alien thing and back home, Keith would just give up on him ? What if it was exactly what the pessimistic part of his brain was trying to tell him ? What if...

Lance got out of his head from a jab, courtesy of Pidge, as they walked in what was clearly some sort of control room.

"Where are we ?" he asked, awkwardly cleared his throat from any panic.

It was, in fact, a control room with weird circles incised in the ground. Circles that rose once the console Hunk and Pidge were looking at activated, revealing two large cryopods. The closest one opened with an air noise, and the person literally dropped in his arms, screaming " _Father !_ ". They looked like a young woman, but Lance prefered not assuming anything since he wasn't stranger to misgendering. They (she ?) shuddered and straightened, looking around with a lost gaze. Long, unaturally white hair, pointed ears, glowing weird marks on the cheeks, it was clear to anyone in the room that it was a representative of another species. An unknown one, and close enough to humans to be very, very attractive to Lance.

"Hello," he said, shooting her (them ?) a bright smile.

The newcomer looked at him and blurted out, still confused :

"Who are you ? Where am I ?"  
"I'm Lance. And you're right here in my arms," he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows, raising multiple groans in the distance - the most pleasant one, fo course, being Keith's.  
"Your... ears," they mumbled as they looked at the side of his head.  
"...Yeah ?"  
"They're hideous. What's wrong with them ?" they asked with a disgusted frown.  
"Nothing's wrong with them !" Lance scowled, mostly because he could hear Keith stiffle his laugh somewhere in the room. "They heard exactly what you said about them !"

He suddently found himself grabbed by the ear and put into a restraining hold. The rest of the team stiffened, Keith and Shiro slowly falling into combat poses, Pidge's hand already in his pocket and Hunk's fists curled.

"Who are you ? Where is King Alfor ? What are you doing in my Castle ?"  
"A giant blue lion brought us here ! That's all we know !" he yelped, trying to break away from the iron grip.  
"How do you have the Blue Lion ? What happened to its Paladin ? What are you all doing here ? Unless... How long has it been ?" they suddently dropped him and almost ran to the console, putting their hands on it.

Lance considered the idea of staying on the ground (he couldn't fall lower, right ?) but Hunk was already here to put him back on his legs. They walked closer in silence, Lance massaging distractly his sore ear.

"We don't know what you're talking about," Shiro was trying to get the alien's attention. "Why don't you tell us who you are ? Maybe we can help."  
"I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep."

She it was, then. The second pod opened behind them, letting free a middle-aged looking man with red hair and an impressive mustache. Lance had to admit, there was something seriously british about these two aliens.

"E-Enemy combatants !" the guys shrieked and jumped on Lance, who stepped aside just quick enough to avoid being hit. "Quiznak ! You're lucky I have a case of the old "Sleep Chamber Knees", otherwise, I'd grab your head like this, wrap you up like so and—One, two, three—" the old man made a few kung-fu movements in the air, clearly beating up an imaginary Lance.

This one was fun, the pilot decided as he smirked and imitated him.

"Well, before you did that, I'd—Hoo ! Ha ! Hiyah ! Like that !"  
"Oh, Really ?! Well how could you do that when I've already come at you with this ?! Ha, ha, ha, ha-ey !"

While the two of them were hitting the air between them, the rest of the group migrated around the console, only to assist closer to Allura's cry.

"We've been asleep for 10,000 years !"

They stood still. Ten thousand ? That was a hell of a nap. Her eyes got lost in the void for a second before filling up with tears.

"Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization..." she sobbed, unable to finish her sentence, before slamming her fist on the panel. "Zarkon !"

Shiro turned pale and repeated this name. Hunk and Keith looked up at him, worried. Before they could react, Allura was speaking again, her voice distant and cold :

"He was the King of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people."  
"I remember now... I was his prisoner."  
"He's still alive ? Impossible !" she screamed, looking at him with dispair.  
"I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron," Shiro replied, his arms crossed protectively on his chest, as though he was unconsciously protecting his heart.

Allura got silent for a few moments. Lost in her thoughts. With them, but at the same time far, far away from the room, the castle, the planet. Lance knew this look. It was homesickness. She eventually got back among them and slowly shook her head. Each world leaving her mouth sounded like a death sentence.

"He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does."


	4. The Rise Of Voltron : The Five Lions (more or less)

"Princess," Coran, it was his name, called gently as he pushed a floating bowl full of weird looking green goo towards Allura, "You must eat, it's been tent thousand years."  
"I'm not hungry," was the only reply he earned from the mourning princess.  
"Man, ten thousand years ? That's like one thousand plus ten," Lance whistled.  
"That's times ten," Keith replied, his tone surprisingly empty of any snark.  
"Whatever, dropout," the pilot mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and making a point of not looking at him.  
"I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm starving," Hunk pointed out, matter-of-factly.  
"Yeah, but you've thrown up, like, five times."  
"Hmm... Good point," the engineeer then began to engulf the food goo, his face alternating between surprise and mild disgust.

 

Away from the four of them, Shiro and Coran were quietly discussing near Allura.

 

"I can't believe your civilization created such advanced technology 10,000 years ago. It must have been an incredible place," the legendary pilot said, looking genuinely interested.  
"Yes, it was... but now it is gone and we're the last Alteans alive," Coran sighed as he tried to comfort the Princess, but a loud squeak filled the air and four space mice ran out of the cryopod.  
"Looks like we're not the last, after all," Allura smiled and dropped on her knees to scoop them up.

 

Suddently, it sounded like every single alarm in the castle started blaring as a ginormous spaceship appeared on screen.

 

"A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us !" Coran screamed, rushing to the console.  
"How did they find us ?!" Allura's cry echoed.  
"I'm not sure, but I bet it's Keith's fault," Lance piped up, meaning it as a joke.  
"Say whatever you've got to say to make yourself feel better after getting us stuck on the other side of a Wormhole !" Keith shouted, exasperated.  
"I'LL STICK YOU IN A WORMHOLE !" he roared back, feeling anger boiling in his stomach.

 

It would not be the first time the two of them ended in a fistfight, and at this point they were too enraged to back off, but Shiro used the half second they needed to collide to step up and intervene, his glare ice cold.

 

"Stow it, cadets ! This is no time to place blame, it's time to work as a team. How long before they arrive ?"

 

Lance stepped aside and crossed his arms, his knuckles white from how hard he was digging his fingers into his biceps. Keith visibly gritted his teeth and stubbornly fixed his eyes on the screen.

 

"...couple of days ?" Coran was saying.  
"Good. Let them come ! By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire !" Allura replied with fire.

 

After a few explanations on how they were going to find the rest of the Lions scattered across the universe and who would pilot which, they split to go retrieve what would be their spaceships.

 

It took maybe a few dozen of seconds for the Blue Lion, with Lance and Hunk onboard, to be chased around by a Galra fleet that was conveniently flying around their objective.

 

"I thought Coran said these planets were peaceful !" Hunk screamed as Lance dodged a pair of missiles - again.  
"Maybe "peaceful" means something else in Altean !" he said, trying his best not to crash the both of them on the entrance of a Galra mine.  
"According to the coordinates, we're right on top of the Yellow Lion. It's below there, where they're mining for the ore. They don't even know the Lion is there. Or maybe they just got here and they're digging for the Lion ? What do you think, Lance ?"  
"Who cares? Just go get it! I'm dropping you down there."  
"Me? Down there? No. No, no, no."

 

Lance tried hard not to roll his eyes but failed miserably.

 

"Yes, don't worry ! I'll cover you !"

 

He dived under a laser and ejected Hunk right into the mine before drawing the attention - and the heavy fire - away from his friend. The struggle was real : he barely had an hour or so to learn the basics of how Blue worked, and despite what he knew was a mental connection between his spaceship and himself, the alien machine was still hard to manoeuver as he wanted.

 

"Oh no," he muttered in horror when the Galra started firing at the mine, causing a massive explosion. "Hunk !!"

 

He made another barrel roll, barely avoiding another shoot that was meant for him.

 

"Hunk, come on! Please, buddy !" he called, but then another explosion coming from his own ship made his jump in his seat. "Oh nonononono ! Going down ! We're going down !"

 

He braced himself. The impact was way different than anything he could have experienced in the flight simulator at the Garrison, he realized as he got shaken like a pebble in a plastic bottle. Blue was trying to get up on its own initiative, but was clearly struggling. As another missile locked on the cockpit, Lance wondered if this was how he was supposed to die. Suddenly, the Yellow Lion appeared, blocking the incoming missiles and flattening the figher jets with its own body.

 

"You okay, Lance ?" his friend called through the coms.  
"Hunk ! I thought you were dead ! You jumped in front of those shots to save my life !"  
"Well, actually, I was trying to get out of the way," Hunk giggled nervously. "Thankfully, what this thing lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in armor. Man, can it take a beating ! Oooh ? We've got incoming !" he screamed, protecting Lance and Blue from another wave of lasers.  
"Paladins, please hurry back ! I can't hold the Wormhole much longer !" Allura pleaded as she appeared on Blue's screen.  
"Let's get out of here !" Lance agreed, way too happy to get out of this mess.

 

The two Lions flew towards the Wormhole, although the Yellow Lion started twirling towards it after getting hit by one of the Galra fighter jets. Gurggling noises came from Hunk's coms.

 

"Aah ! Not this again ! Oh..."  
"Quit screwing around, Hunk ! The Wormhole is closing !"

 

To Lance's relief and surprise, they made it to the Wormhole safe and sound, except maybe for Hunk's dashboard. They landed on the Bridge of the Castle, where everyone was waiting for them.

 

"You made it," Allura said, relief showing on her face.  
"Yeah, just barely. That was a nightmare. I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk !" he replied, his fingers fidgetting witht helm of his shirt.  
"Think how I felt. I _am_ Hunk," his best friend huffed.  
"Yeah... We had a tough time, too," Pidge pretended as he and Shiro discreetly smiled at each other.  
"Did we find the Red Lion yet ?" the latter wanted to know.  
"Allura just located it," Coran replied excitedly. "There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's on board that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We're Arus !"  
"They're here already ?" Shiro's face paled visibly.  
"Yes. Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting... I-It's more of an art than a science. Hmm ?"

 

The main screen lit up and what was clearly a Galra appeared on it : fluffy with large ears and sharp teeth, but most importantly... purple. Very, very purple.

 

"Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the Lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet."  
"All right, let's not panic," Shiro said as soon as the communication ended.  
"Not panic ?" Hunk was definitely panicking. "Th-The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us. We only have four Lions."  
"Technically, only three working Lions," Pidge saw fit to add.  
"That's right. Thank you, Pidge. Three working Lions an-and a Castle that's, like, 10,000 years old."  
"A-Actually, it's 10,600 years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather—"  
"Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See ?" Hunk's voice was turning hysterical as he looked back at Shiro. "Now is the perfect time to panic!"  
"Wait ! This Castle has a particle barrier we can activate," Allura called, already typing faster and faster on the console.  
"Girl, you've already activated my par—"  
"Lance !" both Shiro and Keith snapped, the first of indignation, the second of frustration - _needless to say, it deeply satisfied Lance._  
"The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever," Coran precised. "The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last."  
"Panic now ?" Hunk proponed.  
"No," Shiro's voice was firm. "We've just got to figure out our plan of action, aaand... figure it out quickly."  
"I say we pop through a Wormhole and live to fight another day."  
"I second that. Yes. I mean, we tried to find all the Lions, right ? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have three. We can't form Voltron. I mean, I guess we could form a... snake ? Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about."  
"Then, it's settled ! Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy."

 

As Coran made an offended noise, Pidge frowned and planted himself in the middle of the converstation.

 

"We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them !"  
"Okay," At this point, Hunk was fidgetting too. "If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we—hisss out of here."  
"Sendak could destroy the planet then come after us anyway. Staying is our only option," Keith shook his head.  
"Here's an option : shut your quiznak," Lance groaned.  
"I don't think you're using that word correctly."  
"What do _you_ know, Mullet ?"

 

If glares could kill, Lance would be burried six feet under the surface of Arus.

 

"We're staying." Keith said.  
"Leaving !" Lance said.  
"Staying !" Pidge said.  
"Snake !" Hunk pleaded.  
"Guys, stop !" Shiro interrupted. "Princess Allura, these are your Lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action ?"  
"I... I-I don't know," Allura admitted, looking more lost than ever.  
"Perhaps your father can help."  
"My father ?"

 

Without another world, Coran took the Princess by the elbow and conducted her inside the Castle, leaving the young Paladins by themselves in the control room.

 

"Great, now what ?" Lance asked, feeling his nerves cracking.

 

He heard more than he saw Keith groaning loudly and make that hand gesture he always did when he was deeply annoyed. Thankfully, it took little time to Allura and Coran to come back, a new resolution plastered on her face.

 

"You five Paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope. We are the universe's only hope."  
"We're with you, Princess," Shiro assured.

 

They followed her to another room that was probably the armory and leaved them some time to suit up. Once everyone was dressed up, even Hunk despite his doubts about fitting in the armor, Allura distributed them a stack of... handles.

 

"The Bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron," Allura explained as they alternately unlocked their weapons and tried to move around with them. "It takes a distinct shape for each Paladin."

 

Lance smirked when he saw that Pidge's turned into a small grappling hook with a knife head.

 

"Aww, you got a cute little bayard," he cooed mockingly, only to find himself on the ground a second later, having been electrocuted by Pidge, who was now the one smirking.  
"Yeah, it is pretty cute."

 

As he stood up, he took a look to his team-mates : Allura and Shiro were talking near the door, looking dead serious. Hunk and Coran were examinating the Yellow Paladin's cannon. Keith, as for a change, was brooding in a corner. Lance decided not to dwell to much on it. Once they were all ready, they gathered again in the Bridge.

 

"That's a.. pretty big ship," Keith pointed out. "How are we gonna know where the Red Lion is ?"  
"Oh, it's not a matter of 'we'," Pidge replied, "It's a matter of 'you'."  
"Pidge is right. Once we get you in, you'll be able to feel its presence and track it down," Hunk added.  
"Yeah. You know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert ?" Lance finally decided to say, because he was maybe mad at Keith, but not to the point of leaving him in the dark (and yes, Lance knew how contradictory this statement sounded, but he didn't care."  
"Yeah. You made fun of me for that," Keith scowled, hinting at the very first time they talked about his researches.  
"And I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that mumbo-jumbo."  
"Keith, remember," Allura drew their attention, "the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect."  
"All right. Here's our plan of attack," Shiro cleared his throat and began.


	5. The Rise of Voltron : Resolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn't noticed, I re-did the last chapter because I wasn't happy with how it turned out. I like this one much better, I don't know about you. Anyway. Keep an eye open for the next part of the series !

Turned out, the general situation to take back the Red Lion was a complete mess. As far as he understood, Pidge and Shiro deserted in order to go and search Pidge's father who, for some reason, was apparently on the enemy's spaceship, Coran was trying to convince the space mice to make a sandwich, Hunk almost got run over by the Galra ion cannon and Keith found himself on his own to find his problematic child of a giant lion, then when they finally made their way back to the Castle while under heavy fire, Shiro somehow found a way to activate the Black Lion and they all fused together to make a giant space robot warrior destroyer of spaceships. The last fact made Hunk scream "I'm a leg !" for twenty minutes, and finally Coran announced them that they had to try again and again until they would perfectly be able to form Voltron, even under pressure.

 

And Lance ? Lance had a headache that wasn't quitting. Lance wanted to go to sleep and wake up in a century. Worse -and more importantly-, Lance really wanted to cuddle with Keith, but he couldn't because he was an idiot holding onto a grudge that he knew was not even legitimate. Shiro was Keith's brother, who went missing for almost two years. Of course Keith would want to catch up with him. Obviously. And of course Lance had no right to be pissed, but he still was. He was feeling like an asshole, miserable and alone. He deserved it, probably. He'd been nothing but awful, and not only to Keith : the whole team was having a hard time because of him and his stubborness. It was unacceptable. When he finally realized he wouldn't get any sleep before he did something to make it right, he decided to put his big boy pants on and to go talk to Keith.

 

Unsurprisingly, he found him in the training room where he seemed to have taken up definitive residence. No matter what hour of the day or night, as soon as the Princess showed them the room "dedicated to teamwork and physical exertion" as she had put it, Keith would disappear as soon as possible to go train. He took the "physically exertion" maybe too literally, if the way he was laying on the ground, panting, was anything to go by. Behind Lance, the door closed with a loud swoosh, breaking the silence. Keith glanced up at Lance. Lance considered running away for a second, but he was already halfway down the training field, so he forced himself to sit down next to him.

 

"Hey," the Red Paladin greeted quietly from the ground.  
"Hey yourself," Lance hated how strangled his voice sounded. "Uh. Can we talk ?"  
"I don't know, Lance, _can we_ ?"

 

He flinched at the accusing tone and, okay, maybe he deserved it. All he did until now was running away or butting heads. None of them was a good way to talk things out.

 

"Listen, I-" his voice was somewhat normal, but he still had a hard time hiding his nervousness. "I'm sorry, okay. About everything. I'm sorry I've been such a jerk to you."  
"Lance..." Keith sighed, pulling himself up to sit.  
"No, let me finish. I've reacted like a child just because I was hurt, and you deserved none of it. And I guess avoiding and confronting you on everything didn't help my case, but. Yeah." He swallowed with difficulty. "I'm so sorry."

 

Keith didn't reply for a long time, just fixing his hands shaking on his lap, to the extend that Lance wondered if he was given the silent treatment. But he eventually looked up and something broke in the cuban boy's heart because Keith was trying so hard not to cry it was almost painful to watch.

 

"You ran away, Lance," he accused, fighting the sob in his voice.  
"What ?" the other gasped. "No I didn't !"  
"Yes you did !" the dark-haired boy snapped. "You left and then you acted like I was the one in the wrong all along !"  
"That's absolutely not how it went ! You pushed me away !"  
"I did nothing !" Keith shouted. "You're the one who decided that I wasn't good enough anymore !"  
"Why are you yelling at me ?!"  
"Because you're apologizing for the wrong thing !"  
"Then what do you want me to apologize for ?!"  
"For leaving !"  
"I didn't leave ! _You pushed me away !_ "  
"That's bullshit and you know it !"

 

Lance didn't really know when they ended on their feet, screaming on top of each other, but there they were. He didn't want it, he didn't want any of it. He came here to make peace and clear the air but it went even worse.

 

"Are you guys making a screaming match or something ?"

 

They suddenly turned around, cut short in their argument, to look at Hunk. The Yellow Paladin was standing in the doorway, hugging a bunch of cables he was certainly planning to tinker with. They exchanged a look and Keith glanced away, rubbing discreetly his damp cheeks. Lance sighed and turned back to his best friend.

 

"Did we disturb you ? Sorry dude, we were just... discussing things."

 

The big guy squinted at them suspiciously.

 

"I don't know what's going on," he started slowly, "But I don't think yelling your head off will do you any good."

 

Keith snorted. Lance stayed silent.

 

"Just saying," Hunk concluded with a shrug and walked out, dragging his overflowing cables on the ground.

 

It was quiet again. Keith was turned away, avoiding any eye contact. Lance didn't know if it was supposed to be the calm before the storm, but he wasn't taking any chances. They needed to make things right.

 

"Let's try this again," he said. "But maybe somewhere more private."  
"I need some water," Keith muttered and made a beeline for his stuff, at the other end of the room.

 

He deliberately took his time, trying to get Lance pissed, but the Blue Paladin kept his thoughts for himself and waited. Keith eventually gathered his jacket and his now empty water pouch and walked directly to the door, not waiting to see if Lance was following. But he was, obviously, like always.

 

Despite the night luminosity of the castle, he could still see the shining of tears in his boyfriend's eyes. He hated himself for being the reason why they were here in the first place. He wanted to kiss them away, but kept his hands for himself. He wanted to erase everything and start over, make it cleaner. But this was real life, not a video game were he could reset or a story he could erase. He had to do with what he had, and what he made. He had to deal with the consequences of his mistakes.

 

Their steps led them to Lance's room. They walked in, letting the door close behind them. Then there was the silence again, stifling, agonizing, only cut every now and then by Keith's quiet sniffs. He sat on the bed while the latter preferred to stand next to the exit, like he was ready to bolt out at any moment.

 

"I didn't leave, Keith."  
"Yes you did," the other replied automatically.  
"No. You kept me at arm length, and it was like you didn't want me around anymore."  
"That's not- !" Keith cried, passing his fingers in his hair and tugging harshly. "You kept repeating that you wanted to find Shiro ! Then once we did you would have left !"  
"I never said that !" Lance fought, incredulous. "You looked so happy to have someone to search Shiro with that I just kept repeating it !"

 

Keith crossed his arms defensively and lowered his head. Lance sighed and continued.

 

"You acted so cold lately, like, what did I do ? I thought we were okay but... Clearly we weren't ?"  
"You don't get it."  
"Then explain to me."  
"We _were_ good," Keith mumbled as he passed his fingers in his hair once more. "But you kept going on and on about Shiro and... It's like you were in it only for him."  
"Oh no, Keith..." Lance breathed.  
"I'm always left behind. It wouldn't have been the first time. So. When I saw that you were going to drop me anyway, I just- Took the lead."

 

He was shaking again, but this time it wasn't only his hands : his whole body seemed agitated by nervous spasms. As if the tension had completely drained out of his body, leaving him raw and exhausted. But maybe it was because of the training.

 

Lance didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. He didn't have the words to express the ten thousand feelings he was going through. So he did the next best thing : he hugged him. After all, acts were more important to Keith that language was. And if the Red Paladin recoiled for a second in astonishment, he melted in the embrace immediately after. Lance realized that he probably missed the contact more than he did himself, which seemed impossible, and yet.

 

"I'm sorry," he repeated, "I'm sorry about everything."

 

Keith shook his head, despite it being buried in Lance's shoulder.

 

"I'm such an idiot."  
"Hey, no, none of that," the Blue Paladin said. "If there is an idiot around here it's me and only me."  
"Shut up, you're the smartest guy I know."  
"Pidge begs to differ."  
"Then beg."

 

Lance snorted and tightened his hold around him. They stood there, rocking back and forth like a couple of toddlers in need of reassurance. And maybe they were. Maybe they were just immature kids with no idea how to communicate properly. But, in their defense, they were really trying.

 

"Are you asleep ?" Lance chuckled at some point, feeling Keith completely relaxed in his arms.  
"Maybe," the other grunted, peeling off reluctantly and rubbing his reddened eyes. "I should go to bed."  
"... Or, you could sleep here."

 

Keith stilled, uncertainty passing across his face.

 

"Only if you want to," the cuban boy rushed to say.  
"I do. I really missed you."  
"I'm sorry."  
"I know."  
"I was so angry, it felt like you were using me for your searches..."  
"I'm sorry too. It was never like that."  
"I didn't want to hurt you."  
"I didn't want to hurt _you_."  
"We're a mess, aren't we ?" Lance joked and pulled Keith towards the bed, the other dropping his jacket on the only chair of the room with a hum of agreement.

 

It took them some time to find a good position to fit together in a bed that was meant for one person, but they eventually got the hang of it. It wasn't like they hadn't had training with the couch in Keith's shack, after all. It was warm, and comfortable, and it was _right_.

 

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Lance didn't feel like there was an ugly twist in his guts.


End file.
